Located in the Heart of Jharkhand, top of the Chotanagpur
Plateau, Ranchi has a strategic location for controlling the industries of rest
of the state.

Tallest Tricolor In India, unfurled at Ranchi

With titles like ‘Coal Capital of India’, ‘Mica capital of
the world’, ‘Largest steel manufacturer in India’, there are a lot of minerals
present in the soil of Jharkhand. Minerals including Bauxite, Beryl, Chromite,
Coal, Copper Ore, Fireclay, Gold, Graphite, Iron Ore, Mica, Quartz, Uranium
Minerals, Steatite, Vanadium etc., the setup of industries to dig up these
materials and process them for converting them for raw material started during
the British Raj.

With the monopoly of TATA in the area of steel production
even during British, was the backbone of the economy of Jharkhand. After the
Independence, the mines were given on lease for mining to the companies who bid
highest.

It is to be noted that number of industries dealing with processing minerals are
more than the industries dealing with processed goods.

Ranchi is home to the companies like Heavy Engineering
Corporation, Steel Authority of India Limited, Central Coalfield Limited,
Marine Diesel Engine Project, Central Mining & Planning Design Limited,
Sikidiri Hydro Power Plant, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Ranchi Industrial
Area Development, etc. These are just to name a few in the public-sector units
and large scale industries.

With the presence of abundance natural resources, hydro & thermal power
plant totally produce around 1900MW of electricity.

Right after Independence, the mining of truckloads of
minerals were not regularized. The illegal mining was common and anyone with
transport services can carry the goods from the mines to the factories
dedicated to process these minerals.

In true sense, the economy of Jharkhand and development of
Ranchi in the area of Industries started after its partition from Bihar in the
year 2000.

The industries were regularized and separate bodies
dedicated to the public via the central government were formed.

It was known to very few that in the list of potential
cities to be made as Capital of Jharkhand, Dhanbad outweighed Ranchi. More
people were leaned towards making Dhanbad as capital, as it was already an
industrialized city with its monopoly in coal industry.
But, logic was given that, Dhanbad is already industrialized, so other
locations must be given the chance to become so. Geographical location of
Ranchi also played vital role in its declaration as Capital.

After formation of Ranchi, Dhurwa was developed rapidly as
it was home to the industries and for the people working on them. It was
realized that living condition of the workers also matters in their performance
in the factories.

As the business started booming and supply demand chain
expanded, investors from different parts came by to grab the opportunity. Ranchi
welcomed them by open hearts and all the parties started making profit.

The state which was borrowing electricity from other
neighboring states before independence, started selling extra energy to
neighboring states by the 2000s.

With the factories expanding and people migrating from
different parts for settling, other industries like education, healthcare,
news, etc. also expanded. The environmental factor favored both the factories
as they get cheap labor and resources like water, from the rivers, and people
settling here for the climatic condition.

With the increase and setup of industries, transportation
sector also increased requirement of trucks boomed. This affected positively in
the manufacture of truck in Jamshedpur. People began realizing the profit in
transport services and started investing in them.

A simple way of investing is, buy 5-6 trucks, send some for
carrying minerals to factories from mines and some for transporting goods in
remote locations and out state cities. Movers and packers in Ranchi, are a new
business area, which was already successful in cities like Delhi and Mumbai.

The transport services for carrying goods and services to
towns like Kolkata, Raipur, Patna, Varanasi, Mumbai, Delhi, Bhubaneshwar, etc. started
growing. And it is expected to grow even more as the investment from third
parties are increasing, as they are realizing the true potential of the industries.

Some other areas of investments other than public sector
factories includes Cement factories of Lafarge and Ultra Tech, Newspaper
publishing factories like Bhaskar and Jagaran group, Setting up Central
educational institutions like National Law University, Indian Institute of
Management, IIT-ISM, NIT, Central University of Jharkhand, etc., Healthcare
institutions like RIMS, Central Institute of Psychiatry, Sante Vita etc.

The growth of Ranchi also helped in the growing market of
its remote satellite towns. And by the expansion of Railway tracks this is keep
growing. People can now come to Ranchi for selling and buying goods and
services and can return to their home same day. This local trade route is vital
for growing per capita income in rural areas.

The standard of living of people has definitely increased
post-independence. And it is assumed to grow even more in the coming years.

Talking about figures, there are 4066 total industrial unit
and turnover only from small scale industries are 7,67,736 lacs. Engineering
unit employees 140548 people and investment is 1773.74 lacs.

Hence, it is safe to assume that Ranchi witnessed great
changes in the way work is done. Drastic changes in the management of existing
factories, setup of new factories and units in different areas, development of
infrastructure, increasing per capita income, growing number of parties
interested in investing, raised standard of living of people, migration of
people from other regions.

It will not be an exaggeration to say that transport sector
is the backbone of the whole ecosystem established. It can be assessed from the
loss incurred by state just by one day of transportation strike. Fortunately,
transportation services are improving and by the arrival of digital age, and advancement
in this sector can be seen. Increased customer satisfaction by online booking
of transport for parcel of perishable and nonperishable items, presence of
logistic companies, bound to pay back in the longer run.

The rate of development and advancement, despite several
challenging factors faced, is growing and will continue to grow in near future.